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“Get your ass over here, girl. I’m making cappuccinos.” Kendall laughed, finally finishing with the base and finished the pie, putting it in the oven for the next hour.
“I’m coming – just waiting for Ace to finish saying goodnight to the kids. The boys were a handful tonight, both of them full on crap, so Ace had to be a bad cop. He hates it, but little does he know, I think it’s the sexiest version of him.” She laughed. “Make me a coffee, too. It’s been a long week.”
We hadn’t spoken about it, but I knew this was upsetting her beyond words. When we first met, all she cared about was working, and when Ryan joined the army, she lived and breathed that place. She was her dad’s right-hand woman. As soon as she had Summer, she started working fewer hours, and then, when she had Charlie, her dad encouraged her to be with her kids to be a mom: her other dream in life.
I knew she was feeling guilty even though this wasn’t her fault.
“You’ve got it. Want an Irish one?” I teased, knowing that was her favorite.
“You own the key to my heart, Amber Wilson.” We hung up, and the smile didn’t leave my face, the first genuine one I’d had in two days all because of my best friend and sister-in-law.
* * *
As predicted, once all the kids got together, they ran around the house, full of energy and excitement of being with one another. They were closer than normal cousins since we spent so much time together. Sometimes, my Maddi told me Summer would always be an older sister to her.
The two girls were both in middle school. They sat on the couch, heads bent together as they stared at Summer’s phone, erupting into giggles every few minutes at something funny they were seeing on the phone. Both of them were obsessed with social media even though they weren’t allowed any of the big ones. Celine and I were against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Nothing good ever came from it.
Charlie, Mason, and Nicolas might as well have been triplets despite Mason’s red hair. The three boys were inseparable and were always glued to the PlayStation or Xbox.
Jessie, Jeremy, and Kennedy, our youngest, were the most work. Those three required the most attention at four years old, and they all would be five in a few weeks, which meant nothing – and I mean nothing – could keep their attention for longer than five minutes. But one thing was for sure. Those three were known as the three musketeers to us. Wherever one went, the others followed. Right now, they were watching the Macy’s parade, all of them jumping up and down at the giant Paw Patrol balloon on the screen.
The men were outside grilling the meat while Celine, Kendall, and I were finishing up the food and setting the rather large dining table to accommodate our huge family.
“Mommy! Mommy! Look!” Kennedy called, her red locks bouncing with her as she jumped on the couch, pointing at the screen as Santa appeared on his giant float. “I’ve been asking him for a puppy!” she squealed, catching all of our attention.
“Are you crazy? Santa doesn’t bring people puppies,” Summer exclaimed, finally looking up from her phone, the only one out of the bunch who knew the truth behind Santa. “You’ll be lucky if you get a stuffed pup from him. Puppies are crazy expensive, Kenny.”
“What do you mean?” I shot a sharp look at Celine who glared at her daughter in return.
“She’s just messing with you, baby girl. She’s grumpy because she’s on Santa’s naughty list for not making her bed.”
Everyone burst into laughter as Summer’s cheeks flamed. The poor girl – so uncomfortable in her own skin - shrank into the couch.
“You promised you wouldn’t tell them, Mom!” she shrieked at her mother.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have rolled your eyes at your father and me this morning then.” Celine turned away from her daughter and continued laying the table, putting velvet pumpkins in the center.
The kids went back to watching the show, and I was left standing there watching them, my thoughts still on Kennedy’s wish from Santa. All five of them were expecting something from Santa – something special. Ryan and I had started that tradition with Maddi and Mason – that Santa always got them a big gift.
We weren’t going to be able to afford it this year and still get them their usual pile of clothes, shoes, and toys.
Celine placed a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped, startled. “Don’t think about that now,” she whispered, a knowing look in her eyes. I tried to smile through the fear, but panic crept up my throat.
“What am I going to do?”
“We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about it now.”
An hour later, we were all seated at the big table, our hands linked in prayer. Rick, my father-in-law, was sitting at the head of the table with Kendall at his right and led the prayer. “This year, we are grateful to be together and blessed to have such a big, beautiful family. We are blessed to be sitting in this home, to have been lucky enough to spend all our special moments here. We are thankful for the food in front of us, prepared by the most beautiful women, and we are most importantly thankful for our family who we can count on through thick and thin.”
Everyone unlinked their hands and dove into the food, all of the plates filled to the brim with vegetables and meat covered in homemade gravy. My stomach rumbled at the sight. I looked up from the plate and took in the table. Rick and Kendall both shared a tender look. Ryan glanced at his dad, and then at me, and then his eyes darted over our kids. Celine looked at her kids before raising her glass and clinking it with Ace.
“To many more years like this.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes because we all knew next year would be very different.
The kids were silent while we ate, and then even quieter when they devoured the homemade dessert made by their grandma. They cleared their plates as soon as they finished, and then, all eight of them jumped into the pool that was warm from a hot, November day.
We watched them through the window from the lounge, glasses of wine in our hands.
“Dad, we need to come up with a plan. This silence and ignoring the obvious elephant in the room isn’t working for me,” Celine eventually said, her blue eyes filled with sadness.
